Shida Manaka (Mona) / Keyakizaka46 1st Generation

You'll be looking for fingerprint or dna evidence next

 

I don't think its her and she was not looking that skinny when we saw her recently but whatever its maybe an old picture.

Its a private picture from a photobooth, so if its really her I dont know how they can have it but whatever.

 

Such as?

Staying low-key is clearly the best course management could provide for her. At least until the turmoil is calmed.

 

Look at this picture..she dont do hair like this .its just not mona style

 

DNA evidence probably impossible to find. The dog ate the dress

 

doesn't matter if it is her or not if there are no clarification from management.
It just bad for her idol career
Hope she can rise like Sasshi after this storm,not a forced graduation

 

Yeah, if it's her or not, the damage is done. But personally I don't see any sense in management giving an explanation and creating more noise. I think.
If there is a graduation, we must accept it even if it is difficult. We cannot do much for her other than to support her and not spread "the scandal" unnecessarily (like giving RT to Bunshun images on Twitter for example). There will always be harsh comments than others and we also have to deal with that...

Hard times.

 

I refuse to accept that "the damage is done." Unless Japanese otaku really are idiots. Of course, even the hourly news is all propaganda of one kind or another, so this kind of propaganda is par for the course. They get a couple of real photos, and then they can put up vague purikura (got from where?) and claim they're of her.

Of course, as for me, I don't care at all if she really does have a boyfriend, so it's hard for me to sympathize with the anti's -- although I do understand the bigger picture, where people get a thrill from spending piles of money to see an idol and imagine they have some kind of relationship. I xan sympathize with that a bit. I can't sympathize at all with the even bigger picture, where vicious creeps who are fans of one group take pleasure in tearing down a member of another.

One Twitter poster says Keyakizaka46 (I think he means Kanji Keyaki) is not professional enough. My problem is that that is one of the qualities that made me like them in the first place: their lack of stiff professionalism and the presence of some reality in the way they relate.

 

if you search "志田 愛佳" at the bunshun website nothing but the old article pops up

 

I mean for her image, at least for now. I know that the most of hater comments are from antis.

I also don't care if an idol has a boyfriend, there are idols who have confessed to having had a boyfriend during their years as an idol and nobody ever found out, frankly it seems incredible to me LOL. But as a rule assigned to their jobs as idosl, more than caring if they have a relantionship or not, I care how much or little this may harm their careers, or end them in the worst case.

In any case, I have high hopes for Mona's return

 

I don't disagree with most of what you've said about this whole "scandal", but about that boyfriend thing, is it really the case that the rule was put in place because some fans don't want their oshis being with others? I mean, what you say seems to suggest that that rule exists because of some fans' fantasies and not because of some other reason. You've kinda just assumed it is. It might very well be the case and maybe it's for the girls' security, I'm not so sure myself. But if she does have a boyfriend, which you say you don't care about, doesn't it make you wonder about her character? I mean, if she does have one, she's got some nerves considering she's well aware of the ramifications of it being found out. It's a different thing to talk about your opinion on the rule itself vs the reality of the situation that is that the rule stands and regardless of anyone's opinions, she should be doing her due diligence of complying with the forth put decisions of the management who put the rule.

 

I may remember wrong, but I don't think I ever read an explanation about the ban not linked to the idol-fan "special relationship"
When it comes to japanese idols, safety has never been mentioned, nor professionalism, if not later, when a girl is rumored to have a boyfriend.

Even mangas from the '90 show that an idol can't have a boyfriend due to the delusion this could bring to (usually male) fans.... so I think it's pretty safe say that this is the main factor, if not the only one, of the ban existence. It seems to be part of this world since before AKB... though it would be interesting if some of you guys who follow idols since forever could confirm - or not - this.
Surely not having a boyfriend never protected idols from being harassed, bullied, hurt... personally I'd like that the various managments would think about those before protecting idols through a ban, but I'm not expecting much.

On a completely unrelated topic... much like Techi, Shida seems to me a character took straight out of a manga. Free and complex and with that "aura"... I'd be delighted to see her in some strong lead role someday.

 

I was more referring to the temporary halt of her keya message account. Even if she is taking a break, she should be allowed to give her fans some update, if she wanted to. I mean it doesn't need to be personal post, it could be just sightseeing trips or whatever, just to ensure fans that she is still alive. That indirectly means that they are still guiding/watching over her or one can say moderating her. Whereas closing off these channels gives the impression that they cannot be bothered > cost cutting/saving.

 

I don't think closing her message for instance is necessarily because management ordered her to, it could be her family/doctor said that for her recovery to be most effective she should be allowed to disengage from SNS and anything else that brings some stress/responsibility. Message brings management money through subs and gifts so the only financial incentive to close it is if she's not going to post anyway; subs will get angry eventually. Although fans would love to be informed of what's going every moment or even occasional updates, I can understand that both members and management want to keep their privacy for various reasons. Of course rumors fill in the silence, but probably as long as the general feeling about her is ok, management doesn't feel much need to say anything publicly soon.

 

For all we complain about management for various reasons the fact remains that they are professionals of the highest caliber that know what they are doing. Sakamichis management is not a rinky-dink organization of know-nothings. It's pretty safe to say that if they have certain rules and regulations in place it's because they have very specific reasons and know exactly how it can effect a groups success both pro and against. Whether the public understand or knows what those reasons really are is irrelevant. Off the top of my head I can think of a few reasons why it would be a good idea to prohibit dating aside from the maintaining of the delusion but who knows if any are correct at all so they really aren't worth bringing up.

 

I get maybe you really don't want this to be happening but those first two pictures are the exact same hair style and look like exactly the same person

 

Yeah, right? As much flack as the management gets for some of their decisions, they’re still the professionals and have their reasons for doing so and so things. The 48 and 46 group idol industry is huge and it’s probably something like 250-500 million dollars a year industry (just a wild guess). You’d think people working for and managing such a huge business would be pretty freakin’ good at what they do. And they have no obligation to tell us why their decisions are so. All we do is merely speculate what might be the case and it’s quite petty might I say. It’s also somewhat naive of people to say thing like “I don’t care if my oshis are in a relationship or not. I just want them to be happy” or something like that.

 

The doctor's orders idea sounds like a good explanation, but I doubt management cares if fans are losing money or not. If they did close the member's services because of low usage, Techi's would have been closed long ago, and they would ask members whether they want to use it or not before starting it. Also, if they keep fans waiting on their seat for Shida's return, some fans will stay subscribed. If fans can't wait, then they can unsubscribe. No need to end subscription service when people who can't "wait" for messages can just unsubscribe.

Also, she could literally just uninstall the app or whatever she uses to make posts/messages, there would be no need to go through the trouble of closing one member's service just because the doctor said she shouldn't use it.

So I think this happened for some other reason.

Did they even actually release it? Someone said that a search on their site doesn't show anything but the first article.

Even then, as long as there is eventually a story to go along with it, no need for fingerprints and DNA samples lol. Finding "eye witnesses" would be very hard too, not only because Japan is so crowded that it would be almost impossible to find witnesses from a particular location, but also, who wants to be named as a "witness" in a scandal story from a tabloid? If they choose to be anonymous anyways, then why not just make up eyewitness accounts?

Anyways, another thing that should be thought about is how that picture was obtained. Either someone resembling Shida took the photo and gave it to Bunshun, and they decided to use it, or, someone close to Shida who would have access to the photo- namely the "boyfriend" himself- gave it to them. I think the former is more likely, just because such a "private" photo would be weird for them to have access to.

You know some people are just stating their opinions, and not trying to direct the decisions of management?

Finally, I think management really should clarify whether this is a scandal or not. Saying nothing just allows fans to speculate, and certainly more will be swayed towards the "she was dating" opinion rather than the possibly true "it is fake/a friend", so long as we are only fed "information" by Bunshun. Some people may not accept their statement and continue to hate on Manaka, but more people can be "saved" by explaining things.

Unless it actually is a scandal. In which case, it will be interesting to see what happens over the coming months.

 

rather than talk about management, for me mona was the most rebellious one from the beginning. her comment or act showed on several shows build those image for me
(using silly hat at school, don't care about grades, hates the adult)

if idol rule and life doesn't make her happy anymore, she should stop like nanamin did in honorable way.
i believe this situation leads to disastrous one.

anyway she is almost 20.. doesn't purikura was something for mid-school?? on her hiatus, she can kiss a man on overseas holiday for example..

 

Purikura is an all ages type thing. That's not to say younger people don't use it more often than older people, but AFAIK, it isn't really tied to a single age group. Just couples in general.